EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire baseball hosted their final regular season Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) doubleheader on Saturday as they took on the UW-La Crosse Eagles out at Carson Park. After a late rally by the Eagles in game one, the Blugolds returned the favor in game two with a game winning sacrifice fly from Matt Melendez (Fr. – River Grove, IL) to split the doubleheader series 5-10 and 8-7.
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
After two scoreless innings to start game one, both sides found their first runs of the game in the third. UWL took the first lead of the afternoon on an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly in the top of the third. UW-Eau Claire answered back in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles from Drew Salyers (Fr. – Centennial, CO/Arapahoe) and Nate Witte (So. – Woodbury, MN/East Ridge) to tie the game at 2-2. The Eagles regained their lead in the top of the fourth on the third RBI single of the game to but the Blugolds behind, 3-2.
Nate Witte and UWEC kept at it in the fifth as Witte doubled to left field to bring Cade Mueller (So. – Coal City, IL) across home plate to tie the ball game back up. Otto Treichel (Jr. – Madison, WI/West) brought Nate Witte across home from second base during the next at bat with a single through the right side. Nick Zezulka (Jr. – St. Anthony, MN/St. Anthony Village) added to the UWEC lead with a single into left field that scored Treichel for a 5-3 Eau Claire lead. UW-Eau Claire was kept off the board for the remainder of the contest as UWL scored seven unanswered in the final two innings for the 10-5 win.
Game two held a similar offensive tone for both sides with 23 total hits between the two teams. UWEC found themselves behind early but tied things up in the bottom of the second inning with after Scott Richards (So. – Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandberg) singled through the left side to score Walter Johnson (Fr. – Minnetonka, MN). Nate Witte tied the game on a single to left field to score Matt Melendez (Fr. – River Grove, IL) and Richards on a throwing error by the La Crosse outfielder.
UWL didn't let the 3-3 tie last long as they scored two of their own runs in the top of the third inning. UWEC answered with one run un the bottom of the fourth off an Otto Treichel RBI double to cut the deficit to 5-4. Two more Eagle runs in the fifth and sixth innings put UWEC in a three-run hole in the final third of the game.
After falling to a late rally in game one, UW-Eau Claire returned the favor in the eighth and ninth innings. Drew Salyers started things off with an RBI double to center and Nate Witte followed with a single to score Salyers from second to cut the UWL to just one run after eight innings. In the bottom of the ninth, the Blugolds found themselves with the bases loaded. Ryan Venne (So. – Eau Claire, WI/North) tied the game at 7-7 on a past ball behind the catcher. Matt Melendez assumed the hero role on a sacrifice fly to center field to score the game winning run from third in the Blugolds' 8-7 victory. Venne earned his first collegiate win as a Blugold in three and two thirds' innings pitched by allowing only two hits, no runs, and collecting three strikeouts. Xavier Estrada (Fr. – Bonita Springs, FL) started on the mound for UWEC and tallied six strikeouts in his five innings pitched.
The Blugolds (13-25, WIAC 8-20) will be back at Carson Park for their season finale on Sunday, May 8th. Eau Claire will host nonconference opponent, Hamline University for a doubleheader that is scheduled to begin at 2PM.
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